Hey Readers!

I hope you’ve been doing well. I wish I could say I have, but I’ve been burning out a lot lately, which led to a panic attack last Friday. I’m going to have to slow down on some things going forward, which I was going to anyways due to grad school semester coming up in a few weeks. I hope you continue to tune in to my posts. It means a lot!

Alright, so we’ve got another book review today! This time I read Mississippi Blue by Brittany Johnson.

I met Brittany on Instagram several months ago, and I bought this debut novel as a part of my birthday book haul back in May. Speaking of which, I finished delving into all of the stories from that, so I’m really proud of myself (if I haven’t reviewed it, I’ve decided I will not read it at this point in time)!

I don’t know much about Brittany’s writing, so I just delved right in. So, did I love this book? Keep on reading to find out!

Blurb

Set in the fictional town of Orson, Mississippi, Mississippi Blue follows the investigation of Mary-Lee Hastings, the six-year-old daughter of upstanding citizen and preacher, Mark Hastings, who disappears without a trace one hot summer night in June, 1969.

Detective DuBois and newly appointed Detective Carolina Waterson answer the call as the town’s secrets start coming out—and decades of fear, hatred, racism, and violence are revealed. All the while, The Thing—an unspeakable beast not of this world—waits and watches.

Enter Seth Barton, a man with a very special ability. An ability that lets him see a different side of Orson, a side he calls The Blue, only reachable by plunging himself into the deep waters of the Mississippi. He finds an unlikely partner in Detective Waterson, and together they race to defeat The Thing and rescue Mary-Lee before the town comes crumbling down around them.

GoodReads

Amazon

***Brief disclosure***

I am an Amazon affiliate and earn a tiny commission for purchases made through the Amazon links in this post at no cost to you. It’s a great way to help me keep things running on my blog if you’re already intrigued enough to make a purchase. 

The Review

This is my first time reading something by this author, and I had a good time!

Mississippi Blue is about a fictional town called Orson in the 60’s and how the disappearance of a little girl affected the area. As detectives struggle to figure out who or what could have done such an unspeakable act, they discover something much darker than they ever could have imagined.

Okay, so I think what drew me to this work is that it’s an interesting mix of crime, suspense, and paranormal fiction. I don’t read much crime fiction at all despite loving true crime, but I always like to broaden my horizons when the opportunity strikes.

I really liked The Thing and the concept of the Blue. It gave the novel a Stranger Things kind of vibe that I just ate up.

I also really loved all the depth we get from the characters. They each have a painful backstory, and delving into those stories made the citizens of Orson three dimensional.

On the other hand, I felt like too much emphasis may have been placed on the characters and not enough on the plot. Some of the passages felt long winded to me, and it made the story drag in places, especially when there was action or dialogue involved. I also wanted more focus on the paranormal side of things, but there was enough present to keep me going. Keep in mind, I’m an individual who enjoys more plot focus than character focus, so this is just my personal preference.

Overall, Johnson did a great job of capturing the spirit of the 60’s in this paranormal crime thriller, and I’m definitely going to keep an eye out for her other works in the future. If this sounds like something you’d enjoy, give it a try!

That’s A Wrap!

Well that’s it for this book review. I hope you enjoyed it!

Have you read this book? Are there other similar books you’ve read that you simply have to gush about? Feel free to leave a comment. I’d love to start a conversation!

Have a great day!

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